Biography provided courtesy of “California Watercolors 1850-1970” By Gordon T. McClelland and Jay T. Last.

Joan Irving (1916-1995)...Born: Riverside, CA

Studied: Art Center School (Los Angeles)

Member: American Watercolor Society, California Water Color Society.

Joan Irving spent her childhood in Southern California. She attended Riverside City College, studying art with Richard Allman and then took additional instruction from Barse Miller and Edward Kaminski in Los Angeles. She began to exhibit her watercolors professionally in the late 1930s and after that time, was included in exhibitions in the United States and Europe.

Beginning in 1946, Irving taught painting with her husband, Rex Brandt, in Corona del Mar, California. She had been an instructor at the Chouinard Art Institute and the Coronado School of Fine Arts. She also produced sculptures, murals, greeting cards and commercial illustrations for national magazines. In later years, she traveled to Mexico and Europe on painting excursions and often spent time working at her second studio in the state of Washington.

Biographical information:

Interview with Joan Irving, 1983.